Stitch in Time
by UnsightlyDreams
Summary: When she fell to her knees, it struck her, belatedly, that perhaps accepting his offer wasn't such a good idea after all. (Captain AmericaXOC) (Set after Age of Ultron) (No spoilers in the first chapter)
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, _fuck _-,"

Ironically enough, it was the sight of her _very _esteemed superior that caused her to start cursing. The man opposite her frowned, opening his mouth to chastise when he caught sight of Hawkeye rushing their way. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots, even in a town like this. Everyone knew who the Avengers were, and that they were _here_. Which, sadly enough, spelled trouble for the aforementioned 'here'.

The groceries went tumbling down her hands as she rushed out, slipping past people and pushing those who refused to move in pursuit of the archer. The fruit-seller yelled obscenities after her, but she tuned them out. Her cover was already blown. The simple-minded, keeps-to-herself formerly _mute _townsperson had finally spoken, after all.

"_Clint_! Cli-_nt_!"

He couldn't hear her. He was already out of reach by the time she'd managed to throw herself out of the marketplace, and furiously, she banged her fist against the wall. People continued to rush past her, the atmosphere now filled with panic. They were _running_.

But running from whom?

Or..._what_?

"Ma'am, Ma'am- this way, please! You need to evacuate the city!" A strong hand started pulling her along the crowd, and for a long moment, she was too stunned to react. Then her training (_finally_) kicked in, and she wrenched her arm away.

The man - no - _Captain America's_ eyes widened as she dug her feet into the ground. "What's going on here?" She demanded furiously, feeling her palm itch with the the need to slap him.

Why were they here? Why were they doing this? Wasn't the _first _time enough?

The Captain's eyes were very stern. She supposed if she was merely another civilian, she would've started listening to him by now. "This city is under attack. And you need to leave." He grabbed her again, propelling her forward. "_Now_!"

Once again, the same dance. But now he was distracted. There were other people there too, and perhaps she'd see sense once her fellow _villagers _did. Oh, how she wanted to laugh. She had no friends here. This was a mission, like any other. So instead, she smile widely when he turned to her with his oh-so-stern eyes and said:

"Seriously, Cap, don't wait up for me." And her eyes narrowed. "I have something to take care of."

And then she went to find Clint. She was vaguely aware of him yelling something after her, but she tuned it out. Like it or not, she was technically part of the saving crew.

After all, she mused, shading her eyes with one hand as she scanned the city, her job was to be a _SHIELD_ too.

**{X}**

**{X}**

**{X}**

**A/N: I'm sorry, I just really, really wanted to. I'm aware I have tons of other writing projects lined up, but I saw Avengers 2 and dammit Marvel! The Cap deserves some love. **

**Likely, this should be relatively short. **

**(Are there spoilers for Age of Ultron? Sort of. The OC doesn't know much, and this is set during the attack. Which means at the very end. Which means... yeah. Not too many.)**

**Reviewers shall be loved and cherished and thanked. **


	2. Chapter 2

Everyone was screaming. If anything, she wanted an earplug to block all the damn _noise_. Yes, a fat chunk of the Earth was floating aboveground. Yes, creepy looking robots were lurking around with an insane amount of firepower. Yes, goddamnit, people were _dying_ – but panicking wasn't going to fucking help, was it?!

To top all that, she couldn't find Clint. She couldn't find anybody, really, aside from the civilians. It was only after she'd stumbled to a stop at the edge of the … plateau? Rock? - whatever it was, that another familiar sight burned itself into her retinas.

Well, call her crazy but the sight of the heli-carrier _did_ bring another wave of hope into her heart. Perhaps they could survive this after all.

Almost automatically, her mission parameters had changed.

**{X}**

**{X}**

"Inside, please, ma'am." An armored guard pushed her into the crowd, and she almost sighed. As luck would have it, she didn't have much to do in the end. There were more than enough people to help the civilians, and the villagers tended to trust the officials more than the crazy looking woman with red hair. Inside the carrier, she busied herself with helping a motherless child. The kid wouldn't stop screaming, and it was only until she hugged him and gave him (false) assurances did he stop crying. Even then, a few soft sniffles could be heard.

Death was a tragedy and they were _surrounded_ by it.

"Miss, Miss, have you seen my husband?!" If she looked crazy, then the other woman had already crossed that line. She vaguely recognized her from the marketplace, and opened her mouth to say something – _anything_ – but the woman had already moved on. The kid burst afresh into tears. The official ran around, looking harassed, and the medic was furiously pulling syringes in and out of bodies. She forced her eyes shut. There was nothing she could do to help these people. Not anymore.

The boat lurched sickeningly, and for one moment, she thought they had crashed. But then the door opened, and another official started directing people outside. The familiar walls made her want to retch. She was back. Oh god, she was _back_.

"Ma'am – that way is blocked –,"

"Not for me," She muttered, pulling the identification from the secret place in her sandals. At the sight of the outdated SHIELD ID, he froze, briefly, before nodding.

Through memory alone, she navigated the ship, stopping at intervals to remember where to go next. If anyone saw her, they didn't say anything. She had no doubt they could see her through the monitors though.

And then she could see the monitors too. Far ahead of them, the same man she had once thought dead. Even ahead of him, a woman she could call a friend (on some days, at least).

"Agent Hill," Fury said, spinning around to clasp his hands behind his back, "Welcome back."

Behind him, her sister strode forward with the same stern face she was so used to seeing. Sophia took a deep breath, answered with a wavering smile –

And then _punched_ her.

**{X}**

**{X}**

Maria dodged it (of course she did, Sophia thought bitterly) before raising her hands as if to say – _calm down._ And she couldn't calm down. Not so easily. Not after _everything_ –

"Soph," Her sister began –

"Don't! Don't. Don't '_Soph'_ me, as if nothing happened. Don't you fucking _dare_ –,"

"Agent Hill, please calm down –,"

"Nope," she muttered, shaking her head. "I won't calm down! You… You lied to me! You said he was dead! You said SHIELD was disbanded. You –,"

"SHIELD _was_ disbanded, Sophia." Her sister said firmly, clipboard still in her hands. "As for Director Fury," her eyes flickered slightly, "He survived. But barely. We needed to keep this under wraps."

"For what?" Sophia was vaguely aware, in the back of her mind, that she sounded hysterical. She was also aware that she couldn't bring herself to give a damn. "For _what_?! This?! So you left your sister to _rot_ in some godforsaken hellhole, and you didn't even have the fucking _decency_ to inform me the hell was fucking descending?!"

"Sophia –,"

"Agent Hill, now is _not_ the time." Fury rubbed a finger between his eye and his eye-patch like he was developing a migraine on the spot. He'd made it no secret that he hated dramas. If Sophia were to guess, he was only humoring them right now because Maria looked genuinely hurt. And angry. "We have a Code 9 situation and if you cannot put your petty drama behind you –,"

For ten seconds and then twenty, she considered pretending that it was her sister he was chastising. But no, Fury never had even raised his voice at Maria. Then she conceded with a sigh, stalking towards one of the empty computers. "Fine! _Fine_. We'll discuss this later. Tell me what to do."

"For now," Both the sisters followed Fury's eye patched gaze towards the deck, where Hulk had just deposited Widow. "You can help her."

Sophia froze, and reconsidered the sentence. Hulk had _gently_ deposited the Widow onto the deck and then leaped off the bridge like they did this all the time. Which they probably did. Not that Sophia would know. _But_…

"Hulk doesn't… attack everything in sight anymore?" She asked finally, bewildered, recalling a certain heli-carrier and a certain God of Mischief and the definite pandemonium that had resulted.

Maria promptly smirked, tapping manicured nails against her tab. "Nuh-uh. We have him _all_ under control now."

To which another agent (she thought his name was Barry) yelled: "Yeah, tell her about the time Stark had to go Veronica on his ass!"

Her sister's smug smile automatically dropped as she turned to face the window, all seriousness back. "Didn't Director Fury give you a job, Sophia?"

Sophia rolled her eyes, trudging towards the door. Whether she admitted it or not, it felt _good_ to be back.

**{X}**

**{X}**

To be fair, Sophia and the Widow didn't know each other. Oh, sure, she knew her name was Natasha, and the Widow probably (hopefully) knew Sophia existed, but aside from that, there was nothing linking the two women. Which is why at the sight of her injured leg, Sophia blurted out: "Do you even need help? I mean, Fury, I mean, _sir_ –," she jerked her heads towards the Control Room "– sent me out here to _help_, but ah –,"

By then, Widow had already somehow hobbled to her feet and thrown an arm around Sophia's shoulders. Her mouth snapped shut."Right. That answers my question."

One of Natasha's very red eyebrows rose. "I've seen you before."

"I'm… Agent Hill. The _younger_ Agent Hill." Sophia added when the Widow's intense gaze didn't waver. At that, some spark of recognition flared.

By then, they'd reached the door and Sophia pulled it open, allowing the older woman to enter first. At the sight of Fury, some sort of inner strength seemed to seep through the Widow and she straightened. "I need a free computer." She demanded, some sort of urgency in her voice. "_With_ access to the comm. system."

Fury nodded, and as Maria led her away, Sophia couldn't help but remember, once more, the way Hulk had put her down so gently on the deck.

Her suspicions were confirmed, when not a moment later, Natasha was whispering things to Banner across the room.

**{X}**

**{X}**

"Hey, you're the _other_ Agent Hill, right?" A passing man buried under cups of Styrofoam asked later, once Sophia had settled down on the coach and the crisis was _mostly_ over. Too tired to lift her head from the table, she grunted.

"I'm taking that as a yes, alright? Fury wants to see you in his office." When she didn't move, he poked the side of her shoulder experimentally. "Look kid, he's kind of in a hurry, and I'll even give you one of these cups – _hey_!"

By then, she'd already snagged the coffee and stumbled out of the room, rubbing her eyes. Behind her, he yelled directions and she wanted to tell him that she already knew the damn way – she was here last time – but conceded in favor of saving strength.

She was also pretty sure she _never_ wanted to see another civilian for as long as she _lived_.

There was some kind of commotion up front, and she took a deep swig of the coffee, closing her eyes and praying to God for some peace.

And then she crashed against some metal.

Only, when she opened her eyes, it wasn't just _some_ metal – it was _Captain America's Shield_, and she stared in awe at the coffee sliding off of it. Which was pretty much around the time she realized her ass was on the floor and that the man himself was …looking down at her with a furrow between his brows? He opened his mouth – possibly to apologize, Sophia guessed, since he _was_ Captain America, the _nicest_ guy all around – when a hand went _clap_ against his shoulder and the booming voice of Thor rang in the room.

"We must not delay! Howard's son awaits us in the Main Room." With that, Thor – yep_, Norse God Thor_ – literally pushed the Cap forward, and with an indecipherable glance back, the Cap strode away.

Sophia sat on the floor for a long, long moment until –

"Hill! Get your ass into my office right _now_!"

**{X}**

**{X}**

Maria crossed her arms and glared. "Your job was to stay undercover and _observe_!"

"Don't fucking feed me that bullshit! SHIELD was disbanded and you wanted your _little sister_ far away –,"

"I just wanted to keep you safe!" Maria almost screamed, and Sophia's eyes widened. Maria seemed just as stunned when she realized she had actually_ raised her voice_ – hell, even Fury looked a little shocked. Well, his eyepatch twitched. That had to count.

It was an admirable sentiment, really, wanting to keep her _safe_. And Sophia could understand. She didn't _want_ to, but she could, and once that thought flitted through her mind, all thoughts of fighting back disappeared. Maria probably sensed the defeat in her, because she breathed deeply before continuing. "After Mum and Dad… I _promised_ them, okay, Soph?"

After Mum and Dad had died is probably what she wanted to say, but Sophia knew her sister almost as well as she knew herself, and thus, she knew Maria still _couldn't_ face the reality of their death. Also, she had an inkling perhaps it was for the best.

But still. "You could've called me back… Once everything was safe." But it wasn't, and Sophia probably knew that as well as anyone else. After HYDRA, the collapsing of SHIELD, after everything, Maria had seen fit to send her sister to some corner of the world and that _wasn't_ without reason.

Maria sighed. "I know, okay? I know. I just… Everything started piling up –,"

"I _saw_ you. On TV sometimes," Sophia said, turning away to hide her face because she couldn't stand seeing her sister's intense blue eyes waver like this, "Behind Stark. And I just… I was _scared_. Was I supposed to spend the rest of my life in that hellhole, or would you pull me out?" Suddenly, she froze, as a very worrying thought entered her mind. "And if this didn't happen, _would_ you have?"

"Yes," Maria nodded firmly, sounding as sincere as she could ever be. "Yes, of course I would have…!"

No, she wouldn't, and they both knew it. But it was okay. It was okay because… if the roles were reversed, Sophia wouldn't have called her back either.

**{X}**

**{X}**

"This isn't SHIELD," Fury told her later, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Our main function – our _only_ function is to help the Avengers. We aren't doing any covert operations anymore – well, at least not ones that tie in with them. We're only helping them."

"So… my job?"

"Your job, and your sister's, is to help assimilate the _new_ Avengers."

… Her puckered forehead probably said a lot, because Fury started glowering.

"I'm not going to hold your _motherfucking_ hand and teach you the ropes again, Hill. Now get the fuck out of my office!"

She could've argued, but the tables were already set and the pieces were in motion. So instead, Sophia walked out of the office, wondering what the hell he meant by _New_ _Avengers_.

**{X}**

**{X}**

**A/N: Review me, maybe? **

**So I get motivated and churn out another chapter just as fast? *smiles widely***


	3. Chapter 3

"Seriously?" A familiar voice drawled, shaking her from her deep and (not-so) blissful sleep. "Avengers bobbleheads? I never pegged you for the type."

"Go _away_, Maria -"

"I can't. You're needed."

" - and stop insulting the bobbleheads. They're cute," Sophia continued, ignoring her sister's mean words to lift her head slightly from the pillow. She tapped the closest one. "Look, Hulk just _Noddy-d_."

Maria simply crossed her arms sternly, a rather typical look that had gotten old pretty fast.

"Sophia, you have a _job_."

"I don't think Hulk can do that in real life though. I mean, all those neck muscles must sure make it _difficult _-,"

"_Sophia_!"

"Relax," She groaned into the comforter, relishing the warmth for a second more before ripping it off like a bandaid. "I'm coming, alright? Don't get your panties in a twist."

The mention of her underwear had Maria glaring once more. Frankly speaking, Sophia thought her sister just needed to get laid. She peered at her from beneath lowered lashes as she yawned widely, stretching and popping the unused muscles. As usual, Maria looked as if she was either a) contemplating suicide or b) contemplating_ someone else's_ suicide.

Her sister was _not _a happy person at all.

"They don't like to be kept waiting for you, you know," Maria reminded snidely after a moment or two longer as Sophia strode to the bathroom.

"Patience is a virtue~" she all but sang, cheerfully picking up my toothbrush.

"Sophia, this is _not _the time for games."

"Mmhmm," She mumbled through her mouthful of toothpaste before spitting it out into the sink, "I think they'd prefer my being late as opposed to inhaling my early morning dragonbreath. They _might _end up dead, y'know."

"Yes, well, I'm _sure _they'll survive," Maria shot back, "Earth's Mightiest Heroes, remember?"

"Then what do they need little ol' me for, hmm?"

"I _told _you -,"

"Nuh-uh," She interrupted, lifting a finger and stretching her head out of the door to meet her sister's gaze, "You _didn't _tell me anything. Fury said: Oh, we must help the New Avengers. You said: You'll find out soon enough, Sophia. I mean, I get it, this is a fucking spy unit, but _some _information would be useful." She threw her toothbrush onto the sink before sliding out. "I mean, it's not like I'm a part of SHIELD or anything, right?"

Maria closed her eyes, face tight. Recognizing it as one of her classic: _I-must-be-patient-and-_not_-pummel-my-sister-to-the-floor _looks, Sophia wisely kept my mouth shut until her lashes parted.

"Team-building exercises," She said after a pause. "Vision, Wanda, Rhodes and Falcon are the New Avengers. The Captain and Widow -,"

"Hang on, what happened to the old ones? And seriously, _where _are you getting these people from?" The younger sister tossed off her shirt as she spoke, ambling over to her cupboard to pick out the, in her opinion, ugly-as-fuck SHIELD uniform. "Is there a factory? D'ya produce them or something? '_One New Avenger for Lord Fury, please, Siri_'."

"Sophia, at least _try _to take this seriously."

"Oh, trust me, I _am_," She forced her arm through the shirt's loop. "But ever since New York… Is it just me or is the world getting weird as fuck?"

It was, apparently, a sentiment even her sister shared, because for a brief moment, Maria's eyes were as clouded and worried as hers sometimes were. But soon, that was replaced by her ice-cold professionalism and Commander Maria Hill was back. "You have ten minutes. Meet me in the upper lobby."

As she left, she turned around to glance at Sophia's crinkled pants.

"And at least _try _to make a good impression, will you? I'd like it if people didn't have to associate me with a witless idiot who can't even zip up her pants."

**{X}**

Well. This was it.

The big one.

The one we've all been waiting -

Okay, quoting Harry Potter was _not _the solution, Sophia reminded her brain sternly. This was no big deal, right? Team building exercises with the latest packaged Avengers. No biggie at _all_.

And yet, she was nervous.

"Are you going to just stand there all day, Hill?"

She spun around, almost losing her footing in the process. A few steps away from her, Widow raised one eyebrow.

"Or do you actually plan on going inside?"

"Ah, well…"

"How old are you?" Natasha asked suddenly, cutting off her very not well-thought of explanation. "You look very young."

She supposed, to her, she looked like a child. Still, _not _something you wanted to hear from a woman you respected. Sophia could feel herself deflating. "24. I'm _24_."

Instead of answering, Widow strode past to the door, opened it and then glanced back with a _well, come on then_ look before slipping inside. Sometimes, Sophia could swear the Widow had some majorly expressive eyebrows.

But, it was _good _advice. Steeling herself, Sophia righted her shirt, checked her zip again (just in case) and followed her in.

**{X}**

"Ack!"

The moment she entered, a stream of bright red light zipped past which she only just managed to avoid by throwing herself at the wall, praying to God for some mercy. Even then, there was this small moment where she felt as if she was staring straight down at imminent death. _Not _a pleasant first experience.

"Oh, I am _so _sorry!" A woman - no, _girl _\- came rushing, hands outstretched in an attempt to drag her off the wall. Once Sophia had been restored to her standing glory, she continued in that typical accent she'd thought she left behind in Sokovia. "You came in so suddenly, I had no time to stop myself."

"It wasn't your fault, Wanda." A male voice interrupted, and Captain America (_once again, this was what, the third time she'd seen him?)_ stepped into her line of sight. She couldn't help but think his face was pretty stern for a guy who was basically a walking-talking American flag. Although, maybe _that _was the reason he was so pissy…

She'd be pissed too, if someone made her an advertisement.

"She should know better than to enter without knocking."

Her mental crash was instantaneous.

"Excuse me? _Excuse me_?!" Like every time she was angry or indignant, Sophia's voice rose to a high-pitched squeak. "_Knocking_?! Of all the fucking..."

Her voice suddenly filtered off as she considered two very important things.

1) Widow had entered before her, and clearly knew this was going on.

2) She was also very firmly looking at her, as if trying to gauge how she would deal with the situation.

She almost groaned. Stupid spies. Stupid trust issues. Stupid _I-must-test-every-person-that-works-alongside-me_ tendencies. She _hated _working at SHIELD sometimes.

Which reminded her, she'd just blown up at Captain America. Their very esteemed _superior_. The _first _Avenger. And he _did not_ look happy.

His eyebrows were drawn together, and as Sophia slowly lifted her eyes to look at him, the frown became even more pronounced.

"Are you done, _soldier_?" He asked, voice cold. Jesus, he was already making her feel like she'd disappointed her grandpa or something.

Sophia considered pleading her case, but the situation had already blown to smithereens. Instead, she tried looking ashamed or contrite. She didn't think it worked, because Cap's eyes only narrowed.

"_Well_? Answer me?"

_So old-school_.

"Yes Sir."

"Good. Because let me make one thing _very _clear," He continued, crossing his arms together. She could even see his biceps bulging. Very intimidating. Consider the point made, sir.

"I do not tolerate disrespect in this Unit. In the future, you will knock before entering. And if you're ever late again…" He paused, letting the bit dangle.

"Don't bother coming back."

_What a stick-in-the-mud-asshole_.

**{X}**

**{X}**

**A/N: Unedited, so please to forgive any errors. I need a beta.**

**Forgive the Captain too. Insubordination ain't meant to be taken lightly.**

**Forgive Sophia too, maybe? For insulting him?**

**And the Widow. She's good plot device. (As we saw in Avengers 2. -.-)**

**Also. Please let me know what you think! Reading all your reviews makes me jump around like a kid high on sugar. xD**


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